It’s not always easy to line up sponsors to cover the $1,500-per-pantry bill.

“A lot of mobile pantries are sponsored like individual groups, like a church or a Rotary Club, so we feel obligated to take the pantry to that location,” said Katy Bunder, executive director of Food Finders.

“But there are locations where there aren’t any sponsors because they’re so rural ... so Food Finders just takes the mobile to those areas, and we just come up with that $1,500 internally.”

On Wednesday, that job became a little easier. Bunder accepted a $10,000 donation from the Monsanto Fund. That money will be used to fund mobile pantries.

The nonprofit arm of Monsanto Co. — an agriculture company with eight sites in Greater Lafayette, from Kentland to Lafayette to West Lebanon — has supported Food Finders for two years, said John Sturges, a site manager.

“We’re very happy to support Food Finders,” Sturges said. “They reach such a wide area, and feeding people in need is a very important part of who we are as an agricultural company.”

Jasper, Pulaski and Howard counties all pose a challenge for Food Finders, Bunder said. The rural nature of those counties means there are fewer businesses to support the pantries and less coordination from groups, such as churches, that might donate.

Those counties have food insecurity rates of 12.2, 13.7 and 15.9 percent, respectively, according to the most recent Feeding America hunger survey. That’s a combined 19,110 people who don’t have ready access to sufficient food.

Without such community support, “I think we’d be faced with not doing those,” Bunder said, referring to mobile pantries. “Which would be horrible, because that’s where it’s needed.”